


Fire and Ice

by astudyinfic



Series: Holidays 2020 [22]
Category: The Archer - Abigail Roux
Genre: Assassins In Love, M/M, Non-traditional Relationship, Not Beta Read, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28255077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: It had been too long, but Brandt read the signs. He knew it was time once again.He would find him and maybe, just maybe, this time, they would stay.
Relationships: Brandt Everett/Carl Travers
Series: Holidays 2020 [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036116
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	Fire and Ice

**Author's Note:**

> **Day 22: Candle**
> 
> Prompts can be found [here](https://astudyinfic.tumblr.com/post/635866337200259072/decided-it-was-time-for-a-new-holiday-prompt-list).

The lighter sat heavy in his jacket pocket and Brandt spun it around in his fingers as he walked. It was his constant companion, no matter which job he was working or what continent he happened to be on at the time. The lighter was a reminder of things he needed to think about when he burned too hot, when the job got to be too much. The cool metal chilled his fire just a little and gave him the concentration he needed to get the job done.

He dipped his head and hunched his shoulders, a pointless attempt to look smaller as he made his way through the crowd. His height made that impossible but he tried. This wasn't work. This was personal and he didn't want his past to catch up with him today. Not when he had more important things to do. 

Brandt lost track of what city he was in but it didn't matter. He was looking for something particular, something he would know when he saw it. He could be in Barcelona or Boise, Bern or Batu Pahat for all he cared. All he knew was that the signs had pointed him to this place at this time. So he had to keep his eyes open, his head down, and his nose out of trouble until he was holding his favorite kind of trouble in his arms. 

There were always signs that they were drawing closer once again. They weren't supposed to meet up. They were supposed to go their separate ways but while they tried, they kept coming back to one another. Like magnets drawn together, they found their way back to each other time after time. 

It had been three months since the last time they saw one another, three months of following orders and staying apart, the weight of the lighter a constant reminder of what he was missing. A long time ago, Brandt wouldn't have missed anyone. He worked alone, or with a small team. He didn't need another person except for some occasional stress relief. He never imagined feeling like _this_ about another. Not just a lover. Not just a friend. Someone Brandt should have never been with but now couldn't live without. 

He snorted when he saw the name of the hotel. _Icicle Lodge_. Of course, that would be it. Brandt should have guessed. But he always surprised Brandt so he never quite knew what to expect, only that he would recognize his work when he saw it. 

Looking up at the hotel, he looked for the last sign, the last hint that would pull them together once more in this dance that they were to be stuck in forever. Smiling to himself when he saw the candle burning in the window, Brandt took off at a run, bypassing the front desk, taking the stairs three at a time to get to the proper floor. The proper room. 

A quick once over told him the door wasn't boobytrapped, though that wasn't Carl's style. If he wanted someone dead, he'd wait until they opened the door and then shoot them between the eyes. Brandt always did love a man who loved his job. 

It was a danger to open the door without knocking or introducing himself but if Carl wanted to kill him, he would have had time to do it a hundred times over. He wouldn't shoot, Brandt was sure of it. So he opened the door and stepped inside, not a care in the world. 

Something hit him as soon as the door was closed but it wasn't a bullet. He found his arms full of the man who occupied his every dream and many of his waking thoughts as well. Carl pushed him back against the door and kissed him hard, dominating and powerful. Carl was like ice and Brandt was like fire, but like ice, Carl tended to melt the moment he came in contact with heat. Brandt returned the kiss as good as he got and they groped for each other, Brandt trying to pull the gun from Carl's holster, while Carl picked his pockets, looking for one particular thing. 

"You still have it," his lover growled into his mouth, producing the lighter like a prize. 

"Never go anywhere without it." He wouldn't. It was the one thing of Carl's he carried with him at all times, a small token to remind him of the love that waited for him when he completed the next mission, when he reached the next end of the road. 

Carl nodded, pulling back to read his eyes. He approved of whatever he saw there because he nodded. "Good." And pulled Brandt to the bed. 

An hour later, hot and sweaty and basking in the afterglow of the first of many, many bouts of lovemaking Brandt hoped to have during his time here, Carl rolled to his side and looked Brandt over from head to toe. When he was satisfied, he laid back and let Brandt do the same. They made note of any new scars or injuries since the last time they saw one another. Theirs was a dangerous business and they were unlikely to get out of it alive. But each new scar was a tribute to the fact that they survived to be together again. 

"Hi Wally," Carl finally said, cupping Brandt's cheek and bringing him in for a kiss, soft and sweet and slightly cold, just like his lover.

Brandt kissed him back then pulled away to grin at him. "Hey, Trigger. Miss me?"

"You know I did."

Just as Brandt had missed him.

They curled together, talking about what had happened since they last saw each other. Words drifted away, replaced with a conversation held with hands and lips and bodies. The light of the lone candle in the window danced around the room, casting shadows that showed only one man, one being.

If Brandt was a religious man, he would see symbolism in that. But he wasn’t and he didn’t see the shadows anyway. His eyes were for Carl, and Carl alone.

They would go their separate ways again, sooner than they both liked, but it would be longer than last time, which was longer than the time before that. Someday, it would be forever, they both hoped, though neither said the words out loud. 

What they had, it was real and it was lasting, even if they couldn't always occupy this same space. 

For now, they had this time. And for now, that was enough.


End file.
